Silo lug



Jan. 17, 1961 w. RUTTEN 2,968,416

SILO we Filed Sept. 19, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet. 1

INVENTOR. fl w,,/Fmv,W/ WW Jan. 17, 1961 w. RUTTEN SILO W6 4 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 19, 1958 I N VENTOR. 7 7 M fim 4 rum/ M A Q gm m ms mi SQ My MW M m fiw mi i m f; m U & Q g 6, @O 0 O u o \O. o o G o .9 Wm Ra M 3? O 30 8w 0 Q O 0 m6 E mwbw mmvkv gm INN kd United States Patent SILO .EUG'Q Walter-Ruttemdeceased; late of Plainfield; Il];, by:Marion.

Rutten and. Lester. Quinnt Lester Quinn, Railoc @ompany Inc.),rPlainfield;, and:;Joseph J. Regan, tibicago, Ill.',. executors.

Filed Sept. 19, 1958, Ser. No. 762,118

4 Claims. (CL'. 217-95) This. invention :relates to: improvementstin silo. lugs and similar devices:

The invention relates more particularly tosilo lugs employed' forthe purpose of' tying together" the ends of tli'e rods: or encircling: bolts or hoops which arecused on silos, tanks and similar structures:

Silo lugs have been made for a peniod ofy years in several different .ways. In thepast silo or hoop lugs have been madeof malleable castings. Then silo lugspressed from sheet metal were. made, usually in two pieces,- i.e:, an open sided housing of substantiallyrectangular shape and asreinforcing plate used asa strut between the two end walls of the housing. Such 21- structure. is genenally shown in-the Peter Rutten Patent No. 2,244,728;

Another present daysilo lug structure-B shown in Clarence S. Anderson Patent No. 2,406,054 which shows asi-lo lug'lug made of'ithree-sheet'metal stampings, one

=a -ch'annel shaped element and the others end plates which fit together loosely and are held in operative' position by the ends of the hoops or silo rods which encircle the silo.

With 'todays evenincrea-sing size and "capacity of silos, tanks and'storagebins; hoops of a larger diameter are required and-silo lugs of greater strength are needed. Accordingly, the principal object of the-present invention is-to" provide an improved silo lug which may? be easily and cheaply made and which-will'be stronger and more durable than silolugs made in the past.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved silo lug of the type described specifically reinforcedrfor. greater strength at the. rod' receiving openings, this being one of the spots ofweakness inprior: art structures.

A: further object of the invention is. to;provide anim- PIOVBClZSllO lug having rod receiving openings reinforced bycfirstextruding and then compressing ;the annulus of the opening by coining.

Another object of the invention is to. provide the improved? silo. lug above described-.in a,. oontinu0us; stamping, forming and coining operation by the use of a multiple die that performs all the stamping, punching, extruding and pressing or coining operations in series so that the same may be easily and cheaply made.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent from the following description wherein reference is had to the accompanying drawings, upon which:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view showing one of the silo lugs in use with the two ends of a silo encircling rod fastened therethrough, a portion of the rod and silo wall also being shown;

Fig. 2 is a plan sectional view thereof taken generally on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational View of the silo lug taken 2. same has been. assembled,=.. taken generally: on: thec line 5-5: of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a plan viewofthe:continuousisheet metal blankv from which the rectangularly shapecl'ihousing portions of the: silo lug aremade ina: continuous=stamping, extruding, coining and bendingroperation;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary cross sectional view=takenon the line 7--7 of Fig. o-showing the'stepsofextruding and.

coining; and

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the blank from-whiclr th'echannel shaped brace is made; th'edot-dash lines showing where the same is bent tothe form generallyshown" in Figs. 4 and 5.

In the embodimentofthe invention chosen to" illustrate and describe the:same, Fig: lshowsa fragmentary section of the. wall of the usual circular: silo-10 that= has the encircling hoop or rod about thesame forrrein forcement thereofi These hoops are placeduaround-the sil'o at various intervals between the top-andthe bottom of the silo, the numberof lioops dependinggenerally upon-the diameter and heiglit'ofthe silo.

As best seen in Figs. 1 to 4, the two ends l2a=and 12b of the encircling rod 12' areadapted -to-eXtend-throughsuitable openings 1 4a and l4b in onewof the end Walls 16 of the housing member-18 and-throughsimilar openings 20a and 20b in theother' end'wall22'ofthehousing 18; The housing .l als'ohas' the bent-up side walls 24- and26 which extend between the-end walls'16 and 22'. A'reinforcing brace or-plate 28 isprovidedgth'eplate 28 being generally U-shaped in cross-sectionand having;the= inwardly turned legs 30 and 32 whichfit Withintlie-side walls24 and 26 of the housing 18againstthe-baolewall 34 thereof.

As can be seen; theplate'28 als o has -a diagonal bend 36 across its face, the-bend general1y being directed' be tween the two ends of the plate and terminatingdn the' vicinity of the bolt ends 12a and 12b; The"pl ate"28-' is also provided with a pair of'sidelugs 28iz'wh'ich serve to position and lock the same in place between-the end Walls of the housing 18-by being; received?in aligning openings 16a and 2221 in theend walls 16 and22ofth'e housing;

Each of the openings 14w and1f4bandZtPwand ltlb are formed with a slightly raised'shoulder'40, whichresults from the protruding and coining operatiorrwhich takes place during the forming of the housing; as WlllbtiPIfiS- ently'described; With theconstruction thus provided and asbest shown in Figs; l and2'; the coiningAGat the bolt openings gives increased strength to the side walls 16 and 22 of thehousing; Inaddition; the:side'"wall's"24 and 26effect a brace between theendrwall's:andaddb tionally serve top-rovide a nesting; fit"for the'legs-"of the reinforoing plate 28 whicli'has' the diagonaljbracingthere in as preveiouslydescribed. Thusit can-be seenthat'an' extremely tough and rigid structure has been provided and one which will be considerably stronger than any of those previously manufactured either by malleable casting method or by making the same from pressed metal.

Fig. 5 shows the lug in the position before the final pressing of the side walls 16 and 22 against the edges of the plate 28 and the position at which the housing is formed in the die operations which will presently be described. Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate generally the method of production of the housing of the silo lug of this in vention.

In Fig. 6 the sheet of metal 50 may move through a progressive die which in the original or first stage stamps the group of nine holes and then passes to the second stage where the beginning of the protruding of the bolt hole openings 14a and 14b on one side and 20a and 20b on the other side is started. In the next operation the extruding of the holes 14a and 14b and 20a and 20b is continued. In the third stage, a still further extruding action takes place as well as the beginning of the coining operation as shown in Fig. 7. This coining operation is simply the forming of the ridges or annulus around the openings 14a and 14b by hammering or compressing the metal lip to compress the molecules into a ridge of smaller size. This is known to give the area much greater strength. In the fourth stage, the diagonal reinforcing rib 52 is formed in the back wall portion 34 of the housing. In the fifth stage, the lug receiving opening 16a and 22a are stamped. In the sixth stage the outside contour of the end walls of the housing members is cut, and in the final or seventh stage the finished blank is severed from the adjacent blank as shown at 56, and the blank is bent down to form the end Walls 16 and 22 at the angle shown in Fig. with the side walls 24 and 26 bent up at right angles as shown in Fig. 4.

Thus the construction of the housing member of the lug is a continuous stamping, extruding, coining and forming operation on a single piece of sheet metal that is fed through progressive dies from one end of the same.

Fig. 8 illustrates the blank from which the channelshaped brace 28 is constructed, the same being bent along the dot-dash lines indicated to the formation shown in Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings. The assembly is thus complete when the brace is placed in the position shown in Fig. 5 and the ends 16 and 22 are pressed together, thus locking the two parts of the lug into a unitary structure. It will be noted that the angle of the walls 16 and 22 is at approximate right angles to the axis of the bolt member that passes through the openings, so that the nut fastened on the end of the same for holding the end of the tie-rod in place bears at direct right angles against the supporting surface of the same.

From the above and foregoing description it can be seen that the silo lug which has been produced by the method described is of far greater strength than silo lugs made by any other method presently employed. By extruding and then coining the openings through which the tie-rod ends pass, the openings are thus greatly strengthened and there is less tendency for the lug to crack, bend or break at this point.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of the present invention which, generally stated, consists in the matter shown and described and set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A silo lug comprising an open-ended housing and a cap which, when assembled together, comprise a completely enclosed rectangularly shaped housing, said openended housing formed of sheet metal and having a fiat base, a pair of transverse end walls and shorter transverse side walls, said side Walls separated from said end walls and forming parallel braces between said end walls, each of said end walls having a pair of openings formed therein for receiving a silo encircling tie rod therethrough, the peripheral edges of said openings each having an outwardly projecting annulus formed by a coining process, said cap being U-shaped and being positioned between the end walls of said housing and having its legs fastened within and against the transverse side walls of said housing.

2. A silo lug comprising an open-ended housing and a cap which, when assembled together, comprise a completely enclosed rectangularly shaped housing, said openended housing formed of sheet metal and having a flat base, a pair of transverse end walls and shorter transverse side walls, said side walls separated from said end walls and forming parallel braces between said end walls, each of said end walls having a pair of openings formed therein for receiving a silo encircling tie rod therethrough, the peripheral edges of said openings each having an outwardly projecting annulus formed by a coining process, said cap being U-shaped and being positioned between the end walls of said housing and having its legs fastened within and against the transverse side walls of said housing, the end edges of said cap having medial fingers extending outwardly therefrom and the end walls of said housing having finger-receiving openings therein between each pair of circular openings.

3. A silo lug having a generally elongated rectangular shaped base, integral end walls bent at right angles thereto and side walls bent at right angles from said base between the edges of said end walls to form a brace therebetween, said end walls having aligned openings for receiving a silo rod, and a U-shaped brace member and cap fastened between the two side and the two end walls of said silo lug to form a closed rectangularly shaped lug.

4. A silo lug having a generally elongated rectangular shaped base, integral end walls bent at right angles thereto and side walls bent at right angles from said base between the edges of said end walls to form a brace therebetween, said end walls having aligned openings for receiving a silo rod, and a U-shaped brace member and cap fastened between the two side and the two end walls of said silo lug to form a closed rectangularly shaped lug, said cap having outwardly projecting aligning fingers on opposite ends and said end walls having complementary openings for receiving the same.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 609,356 Krantz Aug. 16, 1898 850,048 Playford Apr. 9, 1907 1,481,415 Casper Jan. 22, 1924 2,257,536 Roycraft Sept. 30, 1941 2,406,054 Anderson Aug. 20, 1946 2,488,710 Cooper Nov. 22, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 251,728 Great Britain May 13, 1926 

